| Summary/Abstract |
This article begins with a clarification of the chronology of the ‘Great Leap Forward’ in Chinese higher education following the 1999 decision to expand. It then provides an in-depth examination of the leapfrogging story by focusing on why universities commonly adopted a development strategy that stressed it was better ‘to become larger and more comprehensive’. The author argues that this strategy and its associated ‘abnormal’ university behavior, particularly in cases where local universities ignored the Ministry of Education directives to slow down enrollment expansion in 2000–2005, were driven by two incentives: (1) to attain a higher bureaucratic rank or status; and (2) to obtain more government funds and more tuition. These two incentives were shaped by the bureaucratic control and management system, and the government funds allocation system respectively. The article concludes with a discussion of the larger implications of this study.
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